Tiruvenkadu

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Tiruverkadu (तिरुवेंकाडू) is a western suburb of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It comes under Thiruvallur district administration. It is famous for its Devi Karumariamman Temple. There is also Vedapureeswarar Temple in Thiruverkadu, where Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati are seen in their wedding pose inside the sanctum sanctorum.

Origin

Thiruvenkadu (तिरुवेंकाडू) = Thiruvenkadu’s Sanskrit name is Shwetaranya and both literally mean – sacred white forest. Tiruverkadu literally meaning A forest of holy herbs and roots.

Variants

• Thiruvenkadu
• Thiruverkadu (= TVK)
• Tiruvenkadu तिरुवेंकाडू (मद्रास) (AS, p.404)
• Shvetaranya/Shwetaranya श्वेतारण्य दे. Tiruvenkadu तिरुवेङ्काडू (AS, p.927)
• Thiruvengadu

Location

The town is located 2 km from Chennai Bangalore highway NH4 and 1.5 km from Avadi Poonamalle road SH55. The town is 10 km from Chennai Metropolitan Bus Terminus CMBT. Nearby towns include Porur, Kattupakkam, Iyyapantangal, Kumananchavadi, Karayanchavadi, Poonamalle, Paruthipattu, Ayapakkam, Ambattur, Vaangaram and Maduravoyal.

Swetharanyeswarar Temple

Swetharanyeswarar Temple is a Hindu temple located in the town of Thiruvengadu near Sirkazhi. The main deity is Shiva - Swetharanyeswarar and the goddess is Brahma Vidya ambal. The temple is quite large and all four important Saivite saints have sung in praise of this lord.

This temple is especially known for its unique incarnate of Lord Shiva called "Agora Murthi". He is one of the main god who is being prayed in this village. Thiruvengadu village is also famous for its unique structure of pools in temples. This temple has 3 pools, 3 Gods.

It is a belief that who takes bath in all these pools, the one will be free from their problems like diseases, delay in marriage, etc.,. Thiruvenkadu’s Sanskrit name is Shwetaranya and both literally mean – sacred white forest. Swetharanyeswarar is the main God in this temple. It is said that Agora Murthi was one of the furious incarnation of Lord Shiva. There was an Evil named "Maruthuvasuran" in Thiruvengadu. He had a deep meditation on Lord Bhrama for power. Being satisfied with his meditation, Lord Bhrama offered him many powers. But he used those powers in a wrong ways. He started to torture the saints and innocent people. Having nothing to do, all the saints and people requested Lord Shiva to put an end to this evil.

As they asked, Lord Shiva took his incarnation 'Agora murthi' and killed the 'Maruthuvasuran under a tree (which is now in Thiruvengadu temple, back to the entrance of Agora murthi). All the people thanked Lord Shiva for saving them. Thiruvenkadu, one of the navagraha sthalams, is the Budhan sthalam There is a separate Sannidhi for Bhudhan.. This is also called Adi Chidambaram and the Chidambara Rahasyam is also here. As seen in Chidambaram, Vishnu is near Nataraja. It is situated 15 kilometers away from Vaitheeswaran Koil, on the Sirkali – Poompuhar road. Here the Lord is Shwetaranyeswarar and His consort is Brahma Vidyambal. Indran, Airavatam, Budhan, Suryan and Chandran are said to have worshipped Shiva here. Thiruvenkadu is one of the six places considered to be equivalent to Kasi. The other five are Rameswaram, Srivanchiyam, Gaya, Thiriveni Sangamam & Thilatharpanapuri.

तिरुवेंकाडू

विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर ने लेख किया है ...तिरुवेंकाडू (AS, p.404) मद्रास (वर्तमान चेन्नई) में है। यह स्थान चिदंबरम से 15 मील (लगभग 24 कि.मी.) आगे वैदीश्वरन् कोइल स्टेशन के निकट है। तिरुवेंकाडू का प्राचीन नाम 'श्वेतारण्य' था। यहाँ अघोरमूर्ति शिव का मंदिर है। तमिल अभिलेख से विदित होता है कि चोल नरेश राजराज ने कुछ मूल्यवान वस्तुएँ इस मंदिर को भेंट की थीं, जिनमें 'पद्मराज मणि' की एक शृंखला भी थी।